After Being Reborn, I Became Explosively Popular Across the Entire Internet CHAPTER 151

Chapter 151: Memories of a Past Life

In his past life, Wen Yan died in a car accident, just one year after Lin Qingyan passed away.

It’s said that as a person lies dying, their life flashes before their eyes like a spinning lantern. In his final moments, Wen Yan’s every thought was of his Yanyan.

Even as he drew his last breath, Wen Yan was filled with repentance. If he could live his life over again, he would hold onto his Yanyan tightly and never, ever let him go.

As it turned out, the heavens truly granted him a second chance, sending him back five years into the past. He hadn’t met Yanyan yet, and none of it had happened.

The day he realized he had been reborn, Wen Yan was beside himself with joy, his body trembling uncontrollably with excitement. He thought, I still have a chance. This time, I will find my Yanyan and love him properly. I won’t let him suffer any more grievances.

But fate always has a cruel sense of humor.

A few days after his rebirth, before he could find any trace of Lin Qingyan, he ran into the nineteen-year-old youth at a Western restaurant. But someone else was by his side: Gu Fei.

It was as if a bucket of ice-cold water had been dumped over his ecstatic heart.

So, he wasn’t the only one who had been reborn. Yanyan had been too.

The heavens had given him a chance to start over, yet he still couldn’t grasp the one person his heart yearned for. Perhaps, he thought, everything was already set in stone in their previous life.

Wen Yan pulled at the corner of his lips, a bitter smile forming. He looked at the youth sitting diagonally across from him, whose expression was stirred with emotion. “I don’t know much about what happened with you and him,” he said.

“Not long after you passed away, he uncovered the truth of your birth…”

At the time, the news was all over the internet. Wen Yan only found out about it online, and he was so shocked that he couldn’t recover for half the day.

Not only that, but everything An Nanyi had done to Lin Qingyan was exposed by Gu Fei. Lin Qingyan was innocent; he had done nothing. All of it was slander orchestrated by An Nanyi behind his back.

Wen Yan found it impossible to imagine that the young master of the An family, who appeared so kind and pure on the surface, was actually an imposter. He had stolen someone else’s place and still committed such malicious acts in secret.

Back then, the netizens who fancied themselves righteous had savaged Lin Qingyan with such vicious, cruel words online. The irony was that when the truth came out, they all fell silent.

But Wen Yan knew he had no right to judge others. He was the same. He had once misunderstood Lin Qingyan, believing his Yanyan had truly done those things and was too afraid to admit it.

He didn’t know how Lin Qingyan and Gu Fei had met, or why Gu Fei would do all of this for Yanyan.

The weather that day was gloomy and oppressive, with a drizzling rain falling from the sky. Wen Yan went to the cemetery to visit Lin Qingyan. From a distance, he saw a man standing before Yanyan’s tombstone. It was Gu Fei.

The man wore a crisp black suit, standing there in silence. A bouquet of vibrant red roses lay before the headstone. He held no umbrella, letting the cold rain soak him, plastering his hair and suit to his body.

Wen Yan didn’t approach. He only watched the man’s refined profile from afar. His face was emotionless, but his silhouette looked exceptionally lonely and desolate.

He stood there for nearly half an hour. By the time Wen Yan quietly left, the man was still standing silently before the tombstone, lost in thought.

Wen Yan recounted these events in just a few words, not wanting to praise Gu Fei too much in front of An Qingyan. “I visited you often, and I happened to run into him a few more times after that.”

“Is that so…”

The image of that lonely, desolate figure in the rain surfaced in An Qingyan’s mind. In his past life and in this one, Gu Fei had done so much for him.

He had once wondered, after he died in his previous life, if the truth behind the false accusations would ever be known…

It was Gu Fei who had revealed the truth to everyone, unmasking An Nanyi’s true face and clearing his name.

An Qingyan would never forget his own final moments, how the man had held him with a trembling body, hot tears falling one by one onto his face. How utterly devastated and hopeless Gu Fei must have been then.

A sourness pricked the youth’s nose, and his eyes gradually reddened, a misty film welling up. Forcibly suppressing the complex emotions swirling within him, he stood up and said to Wen Yan with relative calm, “Thank you for telling me all this.”

“It’s nothing.” Wen Yan also rose, his heart a tangled mess of sorrow, loss, and jealousy—jealous that Gu Fei could have An Qingyan’s love. He tried to force a smile, but couldn’t.

“You have to stay happy from now on, Yanyan.”

Even if the one who brings you that happiness is no longer me.

Wen Yan took two steps forward but didn’t dare get too close, stopping half an arm’s length from the youth. His gaze was gentle. “If you ever need my help with anything in the future, just let me know. If he doesn’t treat you well, you can tell me. I’ll help you teach him a lesson.”

An Qingyan smiled at him and said a sincere “thank you.”

“Wen Yan, don’t waste your time on someone who is impossible. I hope you can find the happiness that truly belongs to you. And… stop being so gentle to everyone.”

Wen Yan was silent for a moment before nodding.

He thought to himself that he might never again find someone he could be gentle with.

Lu Sheng stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, making a call. When the other party picked up, he curled his lips into a smirk, eager to stir up trouble. “My dear cousin,” he drawled, “you’ve got a love rival.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end, followed by three cold, impassive words. “Speak plainly.”

“Do you know Wen Yan?” Lu Sheng asked. “The heir to Shengshi Group.”

Of course, Gu Fei knew him. He had accidentally seen Wen Yan a few months ago when he and An Qingyan were eating at a restaurant. He’d caught the man pulling at Yanyan, and their relationship seemed strange.

Another time, during the filming of the talent show, Lu Yuqi had seen Wen Yan with An Qingyan. The two had talked about something, but the conversation ended on a sour note.

Lu Yuqi, who loved drama just as much as his older brother, had gloatingly reported the incident to Gu Fei with the exact same words: “You’ve got a love rival.”

Once could be a coincidence, but twice couldn’t be explained away. A sense of unease settled in Gu Fei’s heart, and he immediately had someone investigate the connection between An Qingyan and Wen Yan.

The results came back empty.

Before all this, the two had never met. They were complete strangers.

One was the heir to a corporate group, the other a poor kid from the bottom rungs of society. Their lives truly had no intersection.

But they definitely knew each other.

The only explanation was that the investigation hadn’t dug deep enough.

However, Gu Fei didn’t truly see Wen Yan as a rival. He didn’t know the full story, and even if Wen Yan really did like An Qingyan… he didn’t stand a chance. Gu Fei had that much confidence.

Lu Sheng relayed what his assistant had told him to Gu Fei, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Don’t you think it’s weird? My cousin-in-law and that Wen guy clearly know each other, so why are they pretending they don’t? Is there some epic tale of love and hate between them?”

Gu Fei replied dryly, “Maybe it’s a deep-seated hatred.”

“…That’s possible,” Lu Sheng conceded.

After the promotional photoshoot, An Qingyan had a few days off. Returning to the hotel from the studio, he immediately started packing his luggage. He didn’t want to wait until tomorrow; he wanted to return to Nancheng right away.

His fans knew he was on set with the production crew, but they didn’t know his travel schedule, so no one was at the airport to greet him. Still, a fan with eagle eyes managed to recognize him.

He was wearing a bucket hat, a mask, and sunglasses, which covered almost his entire face. Even his neck was hidden by a high-collared sweater. Whoever could recognize him through all that was a true fan.

And the fan who recognized him was a guy, tall and thin with pleasant features.

“Yanyan, it’s you, isn’t it?!” The male fan ran to An Qingyan’s side excitedly, but he didn’t raise his voice. He just asked in a small, trembling voice, his eyes shining.

The two assistants on either side of An Qingyan watched him warily, afraid he would suddenly shout and attract everyone’s attention.

An Qingyan simply raised a finger to his lips over his mask, making a “shushing” gesture, which was as good as a confirmation.

The male fan grew even more excited. Glancing around to make sure no one was paying attention, he took a careful step forward and asked if he could have an autograph.

An Qingyan happily agreed. He took the notebook and pen the fan handed him and thoughtfully asked for his name, adding a personalized “To:” sign.

The fan’s hands trembled as he took it back, his eyes turning red. “Yanyan, you have to be happy.”

A warmth spread through An Qingyan’s heart. He smiled and nodded. “Mm, I will.”

The fan got even more emotional and, in his excitement, blurted out what was in his heart: “Thank you, wifey! I love you!!”

An Qingyan: “…”

The two assistants next to him couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

The rest of the way went smoothly, and he wasn’t recognized again.

An Qingyan’s decision to return was last-minute, so he hadn’t told anyone. He gave his assistants a few days off and, instead of going straight home, took a car to the Gu Group headquarters.

It was exactly 9 p.m. Most of the employees had already gone home, but the lights in the CEO’s office were still on. A man with cold, handsome features sat at his desk processing documents, dressed in an expensive, meticulously neat shirt and trousers.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Without looking up, Gu Fei said in a cool voice, “Enter.”

An Qingyan carefully opened the door but didn’t come right in. He just peeked his head around the corner, silently watching the man who was so focused on his work, and blinked.

Hearing no movement, Gu Fei looked up and saw the familiar face. His furtive peeking was exceptionally cute. A flash of surprise crossed his eyes, and he immediately stood up to greet him.

“When did you get back?”

“Just now.” An Qingyan walked in, and as the man opened his arms, he threw himself into his embrace. He hugged his waist tightly, nuzzling affectionately against his shoulder and neck, inhaling the unique scent that belonged only to him.

The fatigue from a long day of work seemed to melt away. The sternness in the man’s brow remained, but it was now softened with a trace of tenderness. He affectionately stroked the head of the person in his arms and let out a low chuckle, his chest vibrating as he spoke.

“So eager to see me the moment you got back?”

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